A rapid method for airborne tritium analysis

Conference · Fri Nov 01 04:00:00 EST 1991 · Transactions of the American Nuclear Society; (United States)

OSTI ID:7066617

Hofstetter, K J; Wilson, H T ^[1]

---

1. Westinghouse Savannah River Co., Aiken, SC (United States)

Tritium is one of the principal radionuclides released to the environment from nuclear fuel and target reprocessing, heavy-water production, and other nuclear industry operations. For example, the majority of the off-site dose to the public at the Savannah River site (SRS) in 1988 was from tritium oxide (HTO). The absorbed dose is highly dependent on chemical form; HTO is 10,000 more hazardous than the elemental form (HT). Commercially available tritium monitors do not discriminate between chemical form and have high detection limits. Consequently, tedious laboratory methods must be used to analyze HTO in air. Desiccants are used to remove all the water from an air sample. The tritiated water is then desorbed and analyzed by liquid scintillation spectrometry. The method is complex and takes several hours to complete. During an unplanned release, present-time atmospheric tritium concentrations are never available. To improve emergency response capabilities, a rapid sampling and analysis method was developed for measuring low-level HTO concentrations in air. Standard desiccant sampling and water desorption procedure was modified for use in the SRS mobile laboratory, which is equipped with a liquid scintillation counter. These tests indicate that an HTO concentration of 0.2% DCG (7 Bq/m{sup 3}) can be detected by this method with a 10-min sample collection time and a 10-min count.

• OSTI ID: 7066617
• Report Number(s): CONF-911107--
• Conference Information: Journal Name: Transactions of the American Nuclear Society; (United States) Journal Volume: 64
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

050800 -- Nuclear Fuels-- Spent Fuels Reprocessing
054000* -- Nuclear Fuels-- Health & Safety
11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS
21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS
22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS
220502 -- Nuclear Reactor Technology-- Environmental Aspects-- Radioactive Effluents
220600 -- Nuclear Reactor Technology-- Research
Test & Experimental Reactors
220900 -- Nuclear Reactor Technology-- Reactor Safety
440100 -- Radiation Instrumentation
46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
BETA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BETA-MINUS DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
DESICCANTS
DETECTION
DOSES
FUEL REPROCESSING PLANTS
HEAVY WATER
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
HYDROGEN ISOTOPES
ISOTOPES
LIGHT NUCLEI
LIQUID SCINTILLATION DETECTORS
MEASURING INSTRUMENTS
METERS
MONITORING
NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
NUCLEAR FACILITIES
NUCLEI
ODD-EVEN NUCLEI
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PERFORMANCE
PRODUCTION REACTORS
PUBLIC HEALTH
RADIATION DETECTORS
RADIATION DOSES
RADIATION MONITORING
RADIATION PROTECTION
RADIOISOTOPES
REACTORS
REPROCESSING
SAVANNAH RIVER PLANT
SCINTILLATION COUNTERS
SENSITIVITY
SEPARATION PROCESSES
SPECIAL PRODUCTION REACTORS
TRITIUM
TRITIUM METERS
US AEC
US DOE
US ERDA
US ORGANIZATIONS
WATER
YEARS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES